Quality or speed 💫 Issue #68

There’s been a conversation recently about speed over quality - something you get with a minimum viable product. Because we’re working so fast to deliver, we don’t spend time on, say, icon design or aesthetics of the design. It reminds me of the designer’s triangle:

Fast, Good or Cheap. Pick two.

But you can have three. The reason for releasing early is to start learning whether this idea has any legs at all. Quality in the aesthetics can be taken from a Design Manual (similar to the one we built at Wiggle). Fast comes from principles from Lean UX and Design Sprints. That really involves design and development working together, preferably in feature team. Cheap? Better to find out its a bad feature early than give the project 3 months to find that out. If anything is expensive, it’s the quality of the people working on the project.

Service design ain’t easy. That’s the message from Erik Flowers, Co-founder of Practical Service Design. One of my favourite excerpts: “Truth is a pathless land — take from all that is around and make of yourself something more.”

To mistake the design tool of iteration for design itself is a grave error.

Can design be iterated upon? According to Todd Olson = No. He argues that iteration itself cannot innovate. Consider the iPhone. That took years of design thinking and experimentation that finally came together by using the tablet’s touch screen. “Some things can’t be iterated upon” he argues. “Establish the soul, the meaning, the why of a product early on, using thoughtful strategic design.”

Grinduro is coming to Scotland! In short, Grinduro is just what the name suggests: Gravel Road Race + Mountain Bike-Style Enduro = one long loop of pavement and dirt, where finishing times aren’t based on overall loop time, but four timed segments (each roughly five-to-ten minutes).But Grinduro is not just a bike race. It’s a celebration of cycling with as much emphasis on the fun as the ride, with excellent food, an impressive display of art and incredible handmade bikes, live music, camping and a festival atmosphere.

You’re compelled to get out there and start cycling, but what do you need, aside from the obvious?

As some cyclists know, getting out on your bike isn’t the quickest thing of all. But that doesn’t have to be the way. Sidenote: I’m converting my Dawes Lightning into a bit of a porteur rider with flat pedals, so I can get on and ride around town!

It’s no secret that a lot of cycle manufacturing takes place outside of the UK. Kieran Howells considers a handful of British-made products, and delves into the history of UK-based production and assembly.